Millions of Americans awoke last Tuesday to a nation that no longer recognizes their chosen identity on official documents.

With the scrawl of a pen on his first day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump made good on a campaign promise to roll back protections and social and policy advancements for transgender, nonbinary and intersex Americans whose assigned sex at birth does not align with their gender.

Among the many mandates in the administration’s “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” is an end to the issuing of legal paperwork bearing the gender- and sex-neutral “X” designation, which became an option on documents, including passports, a little more than two years ago.

“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes,” reads the executive act.

“Women are biologically female.”

“Men are biologically male.”

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For those who fought for and availed themselves of the right to identify as “X,” such documents are a personal, physical representation of the social and policy advancements made during previous administrations, said Colorado Springs licensed professional counselor and author Dara Hoffman.

“I already know who I am and feel good about it, but being able to have ‘X’ on my driver’s license, it’s just this extra affirmation,” said Hoffman, 50, who came out as nonbinary in 2014, three years before adopting they/them pronouns. “This doesn’t inherently change our value and worth. But it’s nice to be able to have that align.”

The impact of Trump’s new orders on applications for passports and other official documents from citizens requesting identification with “X,” rather than “M” or “F,” was initially up in the air due to lack of clarification and follow-up early last week.

But on Friday, The Guardian news organization obtained an internal communication from new Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that all pending applications for passports and other documents requesting an X gender marker would be suspended.

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Rubio is also suspending all applications requesting a change to the sex marker of M or F, The Guardian reported.

Future federal documents also may not carry such markers under the executive order. Trump’s declaration states federal agencies can only issue passports, visas and Global Entry cards that reflect the biological sex of the individual at birth.

“The policy of the United States is that an individual’s sex is not changeable,” Rubio told State Department staff, in the email obtained by The Guardian.

Dana Zzyym, of Fort Collins, became the first person nationwide to receive the “X” designation on their passport, in 2021.

The “X” marker became an option on identity documents in Colorado in 2018, and the following year, the passage of Jude’s Law made it easier for state residents to update and edit such information on official and identity documents, including birth certificates.

Colorado has been at the forefront of LGBTQ+ advancement legislation. Same-sex marriages were recognized here in 2014, a year before the Supreme Court’s decision made them legal nationwide. In 2021, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act was expanded to include gender expression as a protected class.

The decision to go with gender-neutral on identification documents was personal, but availing such an option might encourage others to do so, said Hoffman, who last year was issued a passport bearing the “X” sex marker.

Now that such options are closed on a federal level, Hoffman said the key questions are about how further rights will be limited or rescinded, when and where and how.

“We’re not sure how much this order is also going to impact insurance covering for hormone therapy, for gender affirming care, and especially in states that aren’t protected,” Hoffman said. “I know there’s a bit of a panic happening right now because there is so much uncertainty — what does this mean and what’s this gonna be like?”

The act is aimed at realigning the nation’s trajectory, at the federal level, and reclaiming policy from the influence of “ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex,” according to its language.

“Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being,” reads the act. “The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.”

Groups such as The Heritage Foundation and Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family back the executive order.

Focus on the Family President Jim Daly said in a statement the executive order reflects the truths found in the Bible that there are two genders.

“Any revolution of common sense must include an acknowledgement of this fundamental truth,” said Daly, who leads the faith-based nonprofit.

Daly also said in his statement that his organization looked forward to working with the Trump administration and Congress on additional changes.

“We are long overdue in this effort to reestablish the exclusivity of two genders, thereby protecting our children and serving America’s families,” he said.

During a news conference hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union last week, legal experts answered some questions about federal and state identification documents.

Chase Strangio, an ACLU attorney expert on transgender rights, said he expected U.S. documentation to remain valid.

“If they try to suggest otherwise, that raises questions,” he said.

State identification documents with a nonbinary marker should also remain legal, Strangio said.

However, the future of state-issued identification is in question to the extent states try to comply with the federal rules, he said.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis’ office, Shelby Wieman, said Colorado is still reviewing the executive order and its effect on the state.

Strangio said the uncertainty created by the order sends a message of fear.

“The message that is being sent is we are a government for some, we are not a government for all, and people are really scared,” Strangio said.

The ACLU did not announce legal action last week, but Strangio said the organization was prepared to fight back against the sweeping order.

“I am concerned about all of it, surprised by none of it and ready to do whatever is needed to protect people,” he said.

The definition of gender in the new executive order is “inconsistent with science, personal experience and real life,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a LGBTQ+ rights organization.

Hoffman said worries about how things might play out in Colorado aren’t at the top of their list, given the state’s record of inclusive policies and initiatives that provide a buffer; at least, temporarily.

But travel outside the state means anxieties, and uncertainty.

“I know within the state of Colorado it won’t be an issue, but if I travel, even within the country, going to a different airport … there’s no way to tell what this could end in or lead to,” Hoffman said.

Official guidance is yet to come, but all indications so far are that cases, and identities, previously settled will remain so.

Hoffman said the major concern is how such policies, and winks and nods from the top, could fuel hatred and violence toward groups that already are marginalized, especially those who also are members of minority communities.

“I worry and wonder how much this will give certain people permission to then crank up their hate, their transphobia, and then have this as an excuse to be able to do … who knows what?” Hoffman said. “I don’t believe that everybody who voted for Trump hates me … but here we are. We just need to figure out what to do about it.”